My Surgeon’s Mistake Gave Me a Life With Pain
By Joanne
I had six operations within a twelve month period.
It began with my right shoulder, when the operation resulted in more pain than prior to this surgery. Three months later I developed acute appendicitis. I was rushed into surgery and sent home the day following, despite the excruciating pain I felt that left me sobbing, visibly distressed. Two days passed in such a state before I was forced to rush back into the Emergency Department at two am.
The surgeon had nicked my bowel with the scalpel during the initial surgery.
I had post-op bleeding and had developed sepsis. Having performed the necessary organ wash out, they sent me back home only to rush back to the Emergency Department once again, a mere few days later. The pain was excruciating! My situation deemed an immediate bedside operation where they cut open my naval, draining the infection and abscess. During this time a hernia had also developed.
A few months later I required another operation, this time for a deviated septum. Fast forward another few months and I was back in there again, as I required another operation for the initial shoulder. The pain was relentless!
I have been left in pain, with a tear in both my right and left shoulders. I have developed lymphedema in my left leg and foot, possibly due to the lymphatic system being disturbed during the surgeries. I now also have ovarian vein thrombosis, which is a rare condition associated with abdominal surgery. Through all of this, I still feel as if I have the same degree of pain I had from my appendicitis. I feel pain internally, which I believe may have something to do with the catheter I had after the organ washout.
My abdomen on my right side, left leg, foot and both shoulders ache constantly. I continued to work for as long as I could, even on reduced hours. I was becoming increasingly unable to continue with my duties and resigned permanently in June this year, due to the extreme pain. To achieve sleep my shoulder must be propped up - lying flat has become a thing of the past. It takes me a total of two hours to get ready in the morning now, most of the time I feel it is not even worth the effort.
This pain is dreadful and I am struggling with it.
Now, I find myself in a position where I have to excuse myself from a lot of family activities, yet prior to these surgeries I was very active. These surgeries have left me feeling as if I have aged twenty years. My social life has become somewhat non-existent, as I find myself excusing myself from events. No one wants to be put in a position of apologizing every time they need to leave early, and sometimes it is easier not to go.
The consequences from these surgeries have impacted many of my personal relationships.
It is frustrating to not be as quick and agile as I was previously. I want to be able to do all the fun things with my grandkids again; I want to go bowling! Being able to sleep through the night uninterrupted, in your favorite position ought not to be left on a list of unrealistic expectations. Waking up is hard… I am so exhausted from all of this pain.
I want to see doctors treat patients with compassion, to really listen to what it is and how we are feeling. Antidepressants are not the cure for chronic pain and it is frustrating to see them treated as such. While I do try hard not to rely on opiate medication, I need them to understand that by lunchtime they are completely necessary - if I want to continue my day. My dose has not been increased. If anything I have dramatically decreased it yet my pain has, and continues to increase. I feel as if I ask my doctor for more medication I will be perceived as an addict rather than a person, and this person requires medication to ease the pain slightly enough to live a semi-normal life.
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